I Almost Lost You Today
by uiytrcgvhbvyi
Summary: AU where instead of Connie being kidnapped by the prisoner in 'Sweet Child of Mine' it's Rita. When Iain realises what's going on he goes running to save the woman he loves, but will he get there in time?
**A/N: Inspired by a prompt sent to me on tumblr. AU where Rita got kidnapped by the prisoner, not Connie. And for story purposes I changed the syringe of HIV infected blood into a knife. Also apologies for the multitude of references to Rita's eyes, I find them so attractive.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Casualty.**

* * *

"He needs the loo" the prison officer said, jumping away from the patient quickly.

Rita frowned slightly but advanced into the room anyway"You're in no state to go anywhere. Moving could rupture your infection. Come on, back into bed." She swang his legs back onto the bed "I'll get you a bed pan" Rita moved to fetch a bed pan.

"Come here" he muttered, grabbed her arm tightly, dragging her back towards him.

She span round to face him, her ponytail flying "Get your –" she stopped dead, seeing the knife he was holding dangerously close to her body.

"You got kids, Nurse Freeman?"

Rita stood frozen in shock, he tugged her arm, bringing her back to reality. Jerkily, she shook her head, blinking away the tears that threatened to pool in her eyes.

"Husband? Boyfriend?"

Gingerly, she nodded once, not sure exactly what Iain was to her but he was … something. She was too panicked to lie.

"Here's what's gonna happen. You two are going to wheel me out of here, if anyone asks, we're going for a scan, straight out the front door to Paula's car. We drive off into the sunset you get to go home to kiss your boyfriend. No problem. But one wrong move and it's bye bye beautiful"

She flinched as his grip tightened at his last words. This could not be happening. This could not be happening.

"Paula's going to tie you to that chair" Rita's breath caught in her throat "Couldn't have you running off now could we?"

Tears gathered in Rita's brown eyes once more as she was shoved roughly over the the wheelchair and her hand was strapped too it. The plastic bit into her wrist painfully but she barely noticed, her mind was too fogged with terror.

* * *

Rita's breathing was quick as she was almost dragged through the corridors by the convicted criminal and his girlfriend, she could barely stop panic from consuming her entire body. Her eyes were wide as the moved through the crowded corridors, begging for someone to stop them, to see what was going on, to help her. They passed Jack sat at the front desk and Rita nearly screamed when his eyesbrows knitted in a frown but he made no attempt to move to stop them. Her heart stopped when they were drawn to a halt by Iain who was standing in front of them. She felt her knees nearly give way, half through fear and half because of relief. Surely Iain would notice something was wrong.

"Rita, can I have a word with you?"

"Um ..." her voice faltered, desperate "Maybe later, yeah? I'm busy at the moment"

He frowned and cocked his head slightly "It'll only take a minute"

"Look I said later!" she snapped.

"A'right" he said, taken aback by her apparent anger "See you later" Iain stalked off, his hands in his pockets.

Releasing a shaky breath, Rita made to take a step forwards but was halted by the hushed cry of "wait" as the prisoner noticed the guard standing by the entrance to the hospital.

"Take us to the basement"

She stifled a cry as Paula span the wheelchair round and the plastic binding bit into her wrist even more, silently she cursed Iain for not realising something was wrong.

* * *

"Robyn?" Iain asked, approaching the young nurse "Have you seen Rita?" he had been looking for her everywhere. Since that brief encounter in the hallway he hadn't been able to shake the feeling that something was drastically wrong (other than her being mad at him for some reason).

"No, sorry"

Frowning, he dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He smiled briefly at the picture of her he had as her icon, but his face hardened again as he pressed the call button.

Rita felt a buzzing in her pocket and started mentally cursing. Shit. Shit. Shit. Checking neither of them was watching her closely, she dug in her pocket and pressed what she hopped was the answer button. Trying to keep the hysteria she was feeling from creeping into her voice she spoke "Once we're … um …" she broke off, trying to keep her voice from breaking "Through the basement" she continued "It's one flight of stairs to the car park, will you let me go then?"

Iain's face fell as she spoke. What did she mean 'will you let me go'? Was someone hurting her? Forcing her to do something? His mind flicked back the the patient he had seen her with earlier, the prisoner. She had been standing awfully close to the wheelchair and hadn't looked at all comfortable. His jaw dropped as it hit him – she had been kidnapped by a murderer. "Of course we will. This isn't a hostage thing" he heard someone, a woman, answer and his released the breath he hadn't realised he was holding. She wasn't in immediate danger, they were going to let her go.

"If it isn't a hostage thing" Rita realised her voice was shaking but there was nothing she could do, she closed her eyes and gulped "What is it then?" She didn't expect an answer. Paula was clearly terrified, although not as scared as she was, and also had no clue what was actually going on here. The patient had been sat there in stony silence ever since they had entered the lift to bring them down the the basement. "You're clever, I'll give you that" she addressed the man in the chair, testing her limits "Offer a single mum with a daughter in a wheelchair the opportunity to cure her child" Rita grew bolder and bolder as she spoke, seeing that the man was not reacting to her words "What mother could resist that?" she knew she was taunting them now, knew she was pushing her limits.

"He does love me" Paula said confidently.

Rita was surprised, so far this woman had shown little conviction in what she was doing but now, now she seemed to be hardened by Rita's words. She changed tactics, maybe it would be easier to go after the mother "I thought that about someone once" her voice wavered as she thought of Mark "So what? You're going to spend the rest of your life on the run? With him?" she almost spat the word venomously "Living off his blood money?"

"It's not blood money!" the man countered, obviously getting angry.

Rita tried to remind herself to ease up a little, as much as it hurt her to say it, they were the ones in control, not her, but she was too high on adrenaline to listen to herself and she continued in her tirade "See here's what I think, he's a low-life who promised you the world to get what he wanted and once he's got it he'll dump you"

"Just shut up!" Paula screamed in Rita's face.

The blonde jumped, not expecting the sudden outburst and tried to back away but was soon reminded that she was tied to the chair. Her heart hammered in her chest as she was jerked sharply forwards once more. "This is it, this is the exit" Rita said when they came face to face with a pair of double doors. Kieran pulled himself out of his seat as Paula rushed to open the doors. Rita's body relaxed slightly, they had said they would release her when they reached the carpark and here they were. Soon this would all be over. Paula came back and Rita began to shift anxiously as she started cutting away her bindings. Her trance was broken as she suddenly felt her back hitting the wall of the basement with a loud bang. She let out a little shriek at the impact. The wind was completely knocked out of her and she struggled to catch her breath, not helped by the fact that the man's arm was pressed against her throat. She looked up at him, her soft eyes wide in terror as he towered over her, a look of unadulterated rage and loathing on his face.

* * *

Iain went flying through the ED, his shoulders clattering into many other people as he ran but he did not spare a thought to the people shouting angrily in his wake, all he could think about was her. It was her as he crashed through the doors. Her as he bounded down the stairs, jumping two, three, at a time. His breathing was laboured by the time he reached the basement and for a second he thought he should stop to catch his breath but he heard a crash up ahead of him and his mind began to swim with horrifying thoughts of what that man could be doing to his beautiful, caring Rita. All his instincts were screaming at him to run, run, run, get to her as fast as he could but his training, his logical brain, told him that surprise was his best asset, if they knew he was coming they would hurt her and he couldn't live with himself if she suffered because of him. He skulked through the corridors, listening tentatively.

"Kieran, what are you doing" came a woman's voice, startled. It was the same woman Iain had heard on the phone earlier. He strained his ears, trying to hear Rita. As he rounded the corner he could see them at the far end of the corridor. His knees nearly buckled as he saw Rita, his Rita being pushed up against a wall by a man who towered over her

"You think you're special?" he heard the man's snarl and he swore that when he got his hands on that man he was going to do terrible things because Rita was so, so special and he would never have anyone tell her otherwise. "You think you're better than us?"

"I know I am" she snarled back with equal venom.

Despite the situation Iain found himself grinning. That's my girl, he thought. His grin dropped from his face as Rita turned her head slightly in his direction and he saw the wild terror in her perfect eyes. Her hair was a mess and her cheeks were flushed but all he could focus on was her eyes, so beautiful, so enticing, so fearful. He felt their gazes meet and nodded his head to tell her to look away before her captors realised he was there. She did as he wanted her too, she always knew what he meant.

Rita managed to drag her eyes away from Iain and stared defiantly into Kieran's face. The man was shaking against her and Rita tried to press herself against the wall even more to get away from his sweat soaked body. Suddenly he let out a gasp and Rita felt his sticky blood against her. She barely had time to register what had happened before he collapsed against her, sending the knife plunging into her stomach. The pain was unbearable and Rita let out a scream as she felt the knife moved as Kieran dropped to the floor, blood still pouring from his ruptured infection.

"Rita!" Iain cried, all pretences forgotten as he ran to her. The knife had clattered onto the floor besides Kieran who was groaning in pain but a substantial amount of blood was spreading across her nurses uniform. He couldn't remember what to do. He was a paramedic and he couldn't remember how to help the woman he loved. Iain helped her to the floor, gripping her tightly as if she might slip away at any second "It's okay, I've got you. You're going to be okay"

Rita chuckled weakly "You've always been a terrible liar"

"I 'ave not!" he said indignantly, running a hand down her cheek, checking she wasn't injured in any other way "And I'm not lyin'. You're gonna be fine. I promise"

"Powerful words, Mr Dean" she grinned wanly at him, her strength ebbing away with the flowing of her blood, but her grin lessened as she reached up to touch his face "Don't make promises you can't keep"

"I'm not" he whispered, his voice cracking with sadness "Rita … you 'ave to be okay … I" he stopped, tears pouring down his cheeks like they never had before "I don't know what I'd do without ya … I love you"

Rita didn't hear him. Her eyes were closed.

"Rita ..." he pawed desperately at her limp body "Rita, wake up!" Fearfully, he bent down so that his cheek was hovering above her mouth. A soft breath floated across his face and he sprang back in relief, her breathing was shallow but she was still alive. With this sobering thought his medical training came back to him and he pressed his hands over the gaping wound in her abdomen. Even though she was unconscious, Rita grunted in pain at his actions "I'm sorry, babe, I'm so so sorry" he wept.

* * *

The doors at the end of the hallway crashed open as the police and security came tumbling through them. They swarmed around Kieran, who hadn't made a noise in a while, Iain thought maybe he was dead, and Paula, who was so traumatised that she hadn't moved from where she stood against the wall. One of the men checked the criminal's pulse and shook his head.

Connie came storming into the room as soon as the police announced that it was safe for her to do so, but her reprimand for Rita died on her lips as she saw the nurse collapsed on the floor bleeding "Iain" she demanded, rushing to their side "What happened?"

"He stabbed her … I – I didn't know what to do" he stumbled over his words, clearly overwhelmed.

"Okay, we need to get her into the ED – "

Without waiting for her to finish, Iain hoisted Rita into his arms and the two medics ran side-by-side up the steps to the carpark and into the ED.

"I need some help!" Connie called to the various members of staff who were standing there staring, unable to believe that Rita, their unbreakable boss, was laying bleeding in Iain's arms.

Gently Iain placed Rita down on the gurney that was brought to him. He tried to follow them into Resus but Connie wouldn't let him and demanded that he stay out and go to clean himself up. There was nothing he could do but watch as they wheeled away the woman he loved for potentially the last time.

* * *

The first thing Rita became aware of was the beeping, the second was the had curled tightly around her own. Blinking lazily, she began to realise where she was and what had happened. Criminal. Basement. Knife. Iain. Her eyes shot open madly as she searched frantically for Iain. He had been sitting right next to her in a chair and had jumped to his feet the second she began to panic.

"Rita. Rita. It's okay" he said, trying to soothe her "You're okay"

She relaxed as his hands cupped her cheeks and his worried eyes stared back down into hers.

"There's ma girl" he grinned at her.

"Iain …" she said, trying to move and wincing as pain rippled through her.

He held her down, worry filling his features again "No, no. Don't try to move"

Rita settled herself back down again and grasped his hand in hers "Iain I'm so sorry –"

He cut her off "Sorry? You're sorry?"

She shrank away from him, scared he was going to get mad and shout at her.

"Rita … what on earth d'you have to be sorry for?"

"I didn't … I couldn't …" she tried to explain herself but was stopped by the crush of his lips on hers as he kissed her. Rita let him, threading her fingers through his unruly hair and pulling him closer.

When he pulled back he settled on the bed beside her, his hand tracing up and down her arm "If anyone should be sorry, it's me. I didn't realise anythin' was wrong in the ED, I didn't stop him. He hurt you, Reets. I couldn't stop him …" His voice became smaller and smaller until it was no more than a whisper "I almost lost you today"

"Iain, it wasn't your fault" she gripped him tightly, willing him to believe her, because it wasn't. If it weren't for him then she would be dead by now, that much she knew.

He didn't look at her, kept his eyes fixed on a particularly interesting spot of wall.

"Iain, look at me" She tugged on his arm, wincing at the pain the movement caused "Look. At. Me"

He turned to face her, his eyes clouded with guilt.

"Without you, I wouldn't be alive. That man would have killed me. But you were there and you saved me. You did that Iain. You"

"Connie helped a little" he mumbled, the corners of his lips hiking upwards as he fought off a smile.

"I don't love Connie, I love you"

"You … love … me? Me? As in you Rita Freeman, me Iain Dean"

"Yes you great lump! Come here" she pulled him towards her and planted her lips over his.


End file.
